Windows Installer

On Windows the MSI installer sets up the ncclient CLI, a native windowed app, and a background Windows Service that does the actual work as LocalSystem. Any user can view status in the app; enrolling, changing settings or routes, and starting/stopping the service require running the app as administrator.

What the installer includes:

• ncclient – CLI for enrollment and daemon (poll for config/certs, run or restart Nebula).
• Nebula Commander (WinUI 3) – The windowed desktop app: side tabs for Status, Enrollment, and Settings, minimizes to the tray on close. Talks to the background service.
• ncclient-service – The NebulaCommanderService Windows Service that polls for config/certs and runs Nebula as LocalSystem. Starts automatically at boot; the app talks to it over a local named pipe.

All three are installed to %ProgramFiles%\Nebula Commander\. The installer can add that directory to PATH, creates Start Menu shortcuts, and registers/starts the service.

Getting the installer:

• Download NebulaCommander-windows-amd64.msi from the GitHub Releases page for the version you want.
• Use SHA256SUMS.txt in the same release to verify the file.

After install:

1. Open Nebula Commander from the Start Menu, choose Relaunch as administrator, and use the Enrollment tab: paste the server URL and the one-time code from Nebula Commander (Nodes → open the node → Enroll). This is the recommended way to enroll after an MSI install - the service stores the token in its protected folder (%ProgramData%\nebula-commander\) and fetches config immediately. (The CLI’s ncclient enroll writes to a separate per-user location the service does not read from, so avoid it for MSI installs unless you’ve explicitly redirected NEBULA_COMMANDER_CONFIG_DIR.)
2. The service starts polling automatically once enrolled - nothing else to run. On first start it also downloads and verifies Nebula itself. As administrator, use the app’s Start/Stop/Restart Service controls on the Status tab, and Settings to change server URL, poll interval, or enable split-horizon DNS. See Windows App usage for details, including re-enrolling.

For building the MSI yourself, see Development: Manual builds.